Apple Touching Up The App Store Prior To iPad Launch

A new report from AppleInsider via Forbes has Apple making some last minute tweaking to the App Store and iBookstore prior to the forthcoming April 3 launch of the iPad.

The report has Apple having designated 20 categories for books on its iBookstore, and they will be available for download on the iPad. That number had previously been listed at 35 back in February.

The categories of literary goodies include "Fiction & Literature," "Comics & Graphic Novels," "Reference," "Romance," and "Cookbooks." Top-tier categories include a litany of more than 150 sub-categories, such as "Manga" under the comics category.

At the same time, Apple has also allegedly went through and classified some apps as compatible with the iPad as developers continue to retool and refine their existing products on the App Store. Developers were given the option to take their apps for a test drive for iPad compatibility when they updated their apps, and after that, only about 16,700 of the more than 140,000 seemed to be compatible.

Since the Wi-Fi iPad lacks a GPS receiver, Apple also went through and termed certain apps as "iPad Wi-Fi" and "iPad 3G." About 40 of the 16,700 certified apps were 3G only according to the report.